In Arabia, there was a period of time called “the Days of Ignorance”. At that time (about 1450 years ago), people used to support their tribesmen even if they were wrong. You can call this a bias to the race or color … etc. In those days people used poem as a media propaganda to ruin the reputation of their enemies. It did not matter who is right or wrong. What mattered was to win at all costs. Wars used to last for decades just because someone from tribe A killed a horse that belonged to tribe B. Things escalated through media and lack of wisdom from heads of tribes and revenge became the master of the situation.
The world system now reminds me of those days of ignorance, even though we have far more technological advances and we appear to be more educated. Somehow part of being human is to be biased to something. The challenge and bravery is really to be biased toward high moral standards.
My dear network of intellectuals, as war emerges and intensifies (especially the ones you may contribute to on media outlets, social media included), it maybe challenging to get to the bottom of things and know truth and filter lies. It is challenging given the amount of information on media outlets to process things. It is even more challenging when you have friends from both sides of the conflict.
My suggestions to navigate this successfully is to:
1. choose your resources of information carefully. Academicians and historians are your friends. Mass media is your enemy.
2. Bias to your network does not help, try to challenge that and question their narrative.
3. Put yourself on other side shoes and check how you would feel
4. Ensure your North Star is high moral standards
After you do your homework, spread the word with wisdom. Maybe you can change the perception of one person towards truth. That is a win! Maybe you can use what you learned to take an action in next elections.
I admire many brave people who challenged their own society in a hope for change. There are enough resources (books and lectures by historians and academicians) in previous posts to know about the Palestinians-Israelis conflict.
By promoting truth and exposing lies we will be doing a favor to both of them and to ourselves. We will be also saving lives.
Link to previous posts:
Khaled Alashmouny 